Leaving this World
by peony-smilebomb-amethyst
Summary: Death is just another part of life, and Yusuke Urameshi learns this over time. charcter death...


Hey guys it's Peony-Amethyst here!

I know everyone (if not most people who read my stuff) is expecting a new chapter of Never Knew I Needed, The Saga of the Phoenix or It's a BoyGirl Thing, but inspiration has flown away for the week so you will have to wait a little… This thing has been haunting me for quite some time and I've been itching to post it…even though it probably sucks. Please read and review.

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><p><em><strong>Leaving a Life Behind<strong>_

An elderly man sat on his balcony listening to the ambience of the forest. He inhaled the scent of pinewood and smiled contently as a familiar presence hovered nearby.

"Botan." he said with a wrinkled smile as he looked up at the blue haired diety.

She hovered down on her oar and settled a few feet in front of him.

"I could never sneak up on you." She chirped.

"Not in 100 years. And it wont be easier just cause I'm old." He said.

"How long has it been, 60 years?" she asked, as he took a seat in a wicker chair.

She sat in the one in front of him.

"You don't look a day older, Botan…" he said.

In fact, she looked no different than she did the first time he met her. Maybe her hair was a little different- it was now down instead of in its traditional ponytail- and maybe her smile was a little less blinding, but then again his sight was fading so he could just be seeing things. She might not even be there, he had dreamed of seeing her again for so long, dreamed of seeing any of his friends again.

Yusuke had been living at Genkai's temple for a while. Genkai died shortly after he and Keiko got married, and had willed the temple to the Kuwabara siblings. Kazuma and Shizuru had proceeded to live there, until Shizuru died of cancer and Kuwabara got married to a Ningen and moved to Hokkaido.

Then, the temple was empty, forgotten for a few decades, gathering dust and housing a few wayward demons because of its residual psychic energy. During this time, Keiko and Yusuke built a family. A son, just as spirited as his father, came from the Urameshi family. Yusuke repressed his demon side and did nothing relating to his glory days as spirit detective, eventually opening up a restaurant with his wife. Needless to say, they were happy.

Kurama and Hiei had moved permanently to Makai after Shiori had passed on, mated together and cementing themselves in the leadership of Makai, Hiei as Mukuro's second in command and Kurama as Yomi's advisor and right hand. Kurama's human body quickly reverted to its former demon self and Youko was once again free to roam. That marked the end of the Tantei and consequently, contact with Reikai vanished into thin air, along with the friends that could've lasted forever.

As happy as the Urameshis were, they were still mortal, and Keiko died from heart disease at 60. Yusuke then had to bury his wife, child and best friend, and, in what seemed like a haze of time, prayed that Botan was the one to ferry them all. At the age of 74, he moved to the temple to be in solitude. He was successful.

"So, I guess it's my turn now, huh?" he asked, his eyes closed. "Bastard sent you so I wouldn't put up a fight."

He sat there in silence with her for a while, before whispering a few simple words that formed the most profound question.

"What's it like to die, Botan?" he asked so softly that she barely heard him.

She gave a small smile while she pondered her answer. She put her hands on his shoulder.

"You've already died twice, Yusuke, so that's a stupid question." She replied.

"I've come back twice, too, never really stayed dead before, so it's bound to be a little different." He responded.

She nodded in agreement.

"It feels like freedom, not having to follow orders, or wait on your fate to be decided, peaceful- or so I've heard, never really been fully dead before, still working on the 'great, so I'm dead' feeling." She said.

"Yusuke, I'm going to ask you to close your eyes, okay?" she said.

"What, don't want me to see when you whack me?" he remarked.

"Still stubborn, I see." She retoted.

He gave a half hearted laugh.

"It'll be just like falling asleep, I promise." She said again.

"Says the grim reaper to her latest victim." He retorted.

"I don't wanna sound like a horny pervert, but I find you standing over me like this extremely sexy."

"You old coot, 114 years old and still kicking, you'd think you'd learn how to be subtle." She said.

He missed this playful banter for so long that he just had to indulge in it a while longer, not to stall his death, but just to have one moment of contentment before passing away.

"OK, I'm ready." He said, as he closed his eyes.

He fell into the last sleep that he would in this life. The most peaceful sleep of his life.

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><p>So, Whaddya guys think? I know I killed everyone, but death is just a part of life…<p>

Peony Amethyst


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